


Fallout: Vault 186

by Gune



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: Drama, Fallout, Science Fiction, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-05-02 16:32:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5255414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gune/pseuds/Gune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beneath the irradiated land of the once great nation of America one bunker community has defied all odds and maintained their secluded society for the better part of two hundred years. But with tensions building and lines being drawn between new factions, how much longer can the peace be upheld? Can the vault dwellers survive or will they be the harbingers of their own destruction?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

_Hope…hope always remains._

_We've been killing each other since the dawn of our species. Tribes vying for power as civilizations rose and fell. Entire nations wiped from the face of the earth for worshipping a different god than their neighbors. As time progressed we developed more efficient ways to annihilate one another until finally…we accomplished our subconscious mission in a blaze of nuclear fire. But not all was destroyed. Our civilized way of life was preserved as citizens were selected to reside in underground bunkers…known as_ Vaults _. These underground_ Vault Dwellers _combined their ingenuity and burrowed deep into the Earth, creating subterranean kingdoms._

_And yet human nature will never change._

_Tribalism is an innate human instinct that drives us to separate from one another. Opposing ideals, values, and religions will forever divide humanity. It was there, two hundred years after the bombs fell, beneath the irradiated sands of our scorched Earth, amidst a divided subterranean kingdom, where certain ideals were forged into the heart of one individual who would one day unite a fractured people against yet another threat of annihilation. After generations below ground, the_ Vault Dweller _emerged from the depths…of_ Vault 186 _._

**FALLOUT**

**Vault 186**

**Prologue**

Above ground, crumbled and scattered across the Earth were the remnants of a long forgotten school. A place of learning and hope for the future now served as one of many countless examples of humanity's inability to maintain peace. Deep beneath the toxic surface another example pulsed with activity. A shinning display of technological wonders frozen from the year 2077; the year technological advancement ended. At least, major instances of technological advancement were halted. Necessity and human ingenuity together will almost always produce convenient and sometimes lifesaving innovations. The Vault was an interactive community; an enormous ant-hive designed to house a large human population. In its infancy, the underground bunker town boasted nearly five hundred American citizens.

Slowly, over the course of two centuries, a vibrant society numbering just over five thousand citizens bristled with activity beneath the stone and sands of a lost nation. No longer were they citizens of America; that country no longer existed. They were residents of the vault and their society, their civilization, was their own.

At the head of that society sat an individual entrusted with not just the safety and wellbeing of each and every one of the vault's citizens, but with aiding in the direction each individual took towards the betterment of their society. It was his responsibility to oversee the advancement of each young mind and guide them through their developing years, extending that guidance to the parents of those young minds just as his predecessor did for him. It was fitting then that those who held his position were named the Overseer of the vault.

Miguel Suarez, Overseer of Vault 186, leaned forward in his seat, letting his hands rest upon the flat platform of the round, crescent moon shaped terminal that served as the base of operations for his office. Miguel was far along in his years with a dark brown complexion and grayish white hair that extended halfway down the back of his neck. His face harbored a subtle amount of wrinkles for his age and was slightly elongated with puffy cheeks, ending with a square chin. His forehead was small but not abnormally so and his green eyes sank more deeply than most into their sockets which gave the aging community leader a natural appearance of solemn compassion.

Miguel gazed into the monitors lining his terminal with a furrowed brow. Another round of protests were in full swing at a dozen locations scattered throughout the vault. It had all happened so fast or at least that is how it seemed. In truth, Miguel could see the small changes in the populace. Unfortunately he didn't give the situation the attention it deserved. Foolishly, he viewed the growing tensions with the same level of passive concern he gave to the mishaps every advanced society eventually endured. However, small feuds between religious and political groups were quickly overshadowed by the growing desire of almost a quarter of the population; the outside world.

Vault 186 was unique in the fact that digitized status reports were sent directly to the main terminal of the Overseer. Status reports containing all information on every vault created before the war that ended one world and birthed many new worlds above and below ground. Miguel, like his predecessors was at first disgusted by the wealth of knowledge granted to him. While each vault did indeed save its inhabitants from the nuclear fallout of the war, it appeared as if the majority, if not all of the bunkers were designed to house inhumane and horrific social experiments with the inhabitants being the guinea pigs.

Miguel could only assume that the release of this knowledge to each leader of Vault 186 was in fact another social experiment of some kind. While the progenitor and purpose of these experiments eluded the aging leader, he couldn't help but wonder if the decision to restrict this knowledge to none but the Overseer was in fact a contributing factor to the situation that had erupted into a near catastrophe. Could this rebellion have been averted if the first Overseer fully disclosed this information? Miguel had to shake the thought away. How could it? Would it not have further inflamed the desire for life outside of the vault? Or maybe it would have fostered a more concrete relationship of trust between the populace and its leaders, making the seemingly impossible task set before him a bit more plausible.

" _Sir? Sir, we're awaiting your orders_." A voice Miguel recognized as the commanding officer for security, Mathew Ford, crackled from an intercom built into his terminal desk.

"Standby until I arrive, Captain." Miguel said after pressing a small red button next to the intercom and leaning forward to better project his voice towards the device. Several technicians and Captain Ford himself had informed the old man that he would still be perfectly heard without his face being less than a few inches from the intercom but Miguel was firmly set in his ways like most people his age.

" _The crowds' getting restless, sir. It won't be long until they're tearing down the doors._ " Mathew said with his professionalism keeping the building panic in his chest from reaching his voice.

"I'll be down within the half-hour." Miguel said with his own practiced professionalism.

Forty minutes later, Captain Mathew Ford of the Vault 186 security police force found himself surrounded by a mob of protesting citizens. Flanked by only four of his men, two to his left and right, armed with black batons and N99 10mm pistols, weapons originally manufactured for use by the various police forces during the pre-war era, Mathew held his left hand out and gestured for his men to keep back. Each officer held their batons at the ready, all of them reluctant to raise the weapons in a threatening manner in the face of an already infuriated group of men and women.

Mathew swallowed hard, feeling the growing tension closing in on him and his men. He tugged at the black t-shirt beneath his utility jumpsuit and for a moment was struck by the almost laughable irony of the situation. In front of him stood a sea of angry protesters all dressed in the same clothing as himself, dark blue leather jumpsuits with stripes of gold running up the zipper from the waist and around the neck just beneath the large collars. Black gauntlets encircled their wrists and forearms and large black boots covered their feet. Mathew himself and his men in addition wore pre-war riot gear –black Kevlar vests, black helmets with large clear visors, and black leather gloves– over their suits.

Much of Mathew's features were hidden beneath his clothing but the stressed Guard Captain held hope that the crowd could be reasoned with. With a light click, Mathew raised the visor shielding his face and let his sky-blue eyes meet the eyes of his fellow vault dwellers that stood shouting in front of him. The elevated plastic shield revealed a handsome man with a slightly pale complexion a squarish chin and low cheekbones. Several strands from his short black hair were matted to his forehead by sweat born from the heated situation erupting in front of him.

_Where was the Overseer?_  Mathew's level of frustration grew every time the question echoed inside of his mind. He glanced back at one of the men on his left whose hand had more than once hovered close to the holstered pistol on his hip.

"Keep it together, Connolly." Mathew said with as much reassurance in his voice as he could muster.

James Connolly, a young twenty-something year old man of African and Irish decent with somewhat large eyes, high cheekbones, and a slanted jawline that ended at a slightly pointed chin, twitched at the sound of Ford's voice. His eyes met the Captain's for a second before his gaze shifted back to the crowd.

"Why are they doing this?" James asked with genuine confusion. "Do they really think fucking with the vaults water is going to solve all of their problems?"

"Just keep your head." Mathew ordered.

"Yeah if there's going to be an incident we need to make sure they take the first swing." One of the guards to the right of Ford said.

"There isn't going to be any incident, Hsu." Mathew said sternly. "These people are our neighbors, our family. There isn't going to be any violence."

"Why don't you try telling  _them_  that?" Dennis Hsu shot back, his small black eyes continuously scanning the crowd for any signs of weapons. Although Dennis was a bit skinnier and shorter than his fellow guards and his face was round with thin eyebrows and puffy cheeks, beneath his uniform his body was a toned masterpiece.

Mathew could tell his men were becoming restless. Too much time had passed and the crowd had realized that no other security guards were coming. The Captain had suspected that was their play all along. Twelve other locations had been accosted by the separatist group; each one hit ten minutes after the other. The security force harbored just under fifty officers so it was obvious that these protests were a coordinated effort. The plan to split Mathew's forces was obvious but the Guard Captain couldn't figure out what the protesters' end game was. The vault door was locked and only the Overseer could open it. Did they plan on storming his office and demanding they be let out? Or worse still, could shutting down the water really be their goal? The thought sickened Mathew. Didn't they know that everyone was needed in order to keep the vault running? Not just the essential systems but the community itself? Mathew was so lost in his thoughts that he nearly jumped at the sound of another security guard, this one behind the crowd, shouting orders.

"Out of the way." A redheaded female security guard yelled above the screams of the crowd.

A few of the shouting mob fell silent and while most of the crowd continued protesting, a path was made for the new arrivals. Flanked by two security officers, Miguel made his way through the parting crowd towards the entrance to the water purification lab. The old Overseer received several jeers and profanity ridden remarks from many of the people he passed. As Miguel reached Mathew and the rest of his officers he turned to face the mob, taking in a deep breath before speaking. The old man was never one for speeches but realized that if what he was about to do did not end the rebellion, nothing would. The female officer positioned a black handheld radio near his mouth and depressed the call button so the Overseer's voice could be heard at every location the separatists were protesting.

"For two hundred years…our community has existed below the broken streets of our lost nation." Miguel said, letting his empathetic gaze meet the angered glares of his people.

Slowly, the crowds scattered across the vault grew silent as their protested leader spoke.

"Our ancestors, our families were the fortunate few selected by Vault-Tec and the government to be spared the nuclear devastation that rained down from above. Since then we have created a vast nation continuing a tradition of human cooperation and innovation that once gave birth to a world superpower whose reach spanned the globe. We were once a meager group of five hundred individuals confused and frightened. Terrified at the prospect of living beneath hundreds of tons of rock and steel and yet, we persevered. We survived."

"That time has passed, Suarez!" A male voice echoed from the crowd.

"You can't keep us locked down here! We want our freedom!" A woman added, eliciting several cheers of agreement.

"In the past…" Miguel continued, letting the jeers bounce off of his resolve. "I attempted to and succeeded in quelling your protests, believing in arrogance that it was my right and responsibility as Overseer to protect you all from yourselves and more importantly, the dangers above ground. I spun tales of vague mystery, inciting fear in your hearts as children and curbing your growing yearning and wonder for the outside world. But now you have all grown into capable and courageous adults who no longer feel the need for the protection of an old man."

"So now I will no longer presume to tell you what it is you should strive towards with your own lives. I will simply tell you the truth; a truth that has been hidden from you, your parents, and their parents all the way back to the day when the first members of this community set foot inside the vault."

Miguel produced a silver square shaped device from the right cargo pocket of his jumpsuit and held it up in view of the crowd.

"This holodisk contains all of the information from a data folder stored in the main terminal of my office. On it is detailed information concerning hundreds of other vaults constructed throughout the land. There is…information that all of you will find to be very disturbing…some horrific. From what I could gather, almost all of the vaults were programmed with special protocols, carrying out inhumane social experiments on the inhabitants." Miguel continued and did not give pause at the several gasps and murmurs from the crowd.

"To my knowledge no one but the previous Overseers have known this information. The password for the folder was given to the first Overseer and programmed by the creator of this vault to delete itself once used for the first time. That password was passed on to me by my predecessor. I know this revelation has most likely only strengthened your desire to leave but before you do…there was information from one vault in particular that I must share with you now because I cannot let you leave without knowing what it is you will face on the surface."

"Nearly one hundred years ago on the other side of the continent a man exited his vault in search of a replacement water chip. When he reported back to his Overseer all of the recorded information was uploaded to my terminal. Before the war, the United States government created a virus called F.E.V. that mutates any living organism it comes into contact with. Everything from insects to animals were warped into gigantic bloodthirsty monstrosities…including humans. A being known as "The Master" created an army of super mutants; men and women dipped into vat containers filled with the virus. The land has been ravaged and all but a few vaults still send data bursts to my terminal. The only reports of any real civilization have come from what was once known as California and Nevada. Everywhere else, as far as I can tell, is inhabited by these fearsome creatures and large tribal gangs known as raiders who rape and pillage their way through any and all civilized communities."

Stunned expressions covered everyone surrounding the Overseer, including Mathew and his officers. Miguel made no attempt to hide the shame weighing down on his heart.

"How could you keep this from us?" One woman in the crowd shouted.

"Just because you're our leader it doesn't give you the right!" A man growled.

"How can we hope to live in a world like that?" Another woman groaned.

"Don't listen to him! It's all just a lie to keep us down here!" Another man warned.

At that last accusation, Miguel, who had lowered his head in shame, looked up in the direction of the voice.

"I can assure you that I am not lying." The Overseer said with a new found determination. "We are not just a community. We are not just family. We are one of the last, if not  _the_  last symbol of what the people of this lost nation were capable of. Not just the good, but the evil as well. The communities inhabiting the other vaults ate themselves, some literally so. But we…we have existed here in relative peace...in harmony for nearly three centuries while the world above has continued to decay. Before our time, when America still existed my ancestors sailed to these lands in search of a better quality of life. For a time, they found it. In every generation there has always been the promise of a better land; a better home. But when the apocalypse wiped out life as our ancestors knew it they did not carry their hopes of a better land down here with them. They brought their ideals and hopes that we, their descendants would know a life of peace. We have found that peace. We have created our own world down here. No other vault has grown as large as we have. No other vault has made as many innovations in technology as we have. No other vault community has prospered as much as we have!"

Miguel's words began to elicit nods and cheers of approval.

"Historians, philosophers, and scholars have always debated the reasons why kingdoms and governments fall. They blamed marauders. They blamed dictators. They blamed wars. They studied past civilizations trying desperately to discover the exact moment the breakdown happened. Well I say the answer is and has always been the most basic. It was when a government decided that it can make the decisions for the lives of its people that that government doomed itself! It was when the people of a nation facing a crisis realized their governments were more concerned with the wellbeing of its king, or prime minister, or its president than the wellbeing of its citizens that those nations sowed the seeds of their own destruction."

"My predecessors were mistaken when they chose to follow the directive set forth by the architect of our vault and I…have come to realize that I shared in their mistake. As your leader I have treated you all as if it were your duty to follow my directives. It is not. It is in fact  _my_  duty to serve you and ensure that all of your needs and desires are met, even if I disagree with those desires. No… _especially_  if I disagree. It is my duty to accept all points of view because I am not an all knowing deity. I am flesh and blood just like the rest of you. This holodisk will be made available to all who wish to transfer its contents to their Pip Boys as well as any further updates concerning the outside world. It is my duty to guide you, not control you. I will leave the decisions concerning what you wish to do with your lives up to you. That means from this day forth the G.O.A.T. evaluations will only be used as a base reference, not a mandatory work placement program. You all have my humblest of apologies for continuing the sins of my predecessors. I can only hope that you will decide to give our community one last opportunity to thrive, for if too many of you leave...it will be near impossible for those of us who remain to maintain the civilization we have worked so hard to build. But we will persevere because we are citizens of Vault 186 and for us  _nothing_  is impossible!"

Miguel handed the holodisk to Mathew and then clasped his hands behind his back while gazing out at the crowd.

The Guard Captain stared in awe at what had just transpired. The thick tension that once felt as if it would choke the life out of him had slowly dissipated and was now replaced with loud cheers of pride and joy. Mathew watched as the Overseer slowly began to make his way back through the crowd the same way he entered; with his body slightly hunched over and his eyes glued to the floor. The symbolic stride of a humble old man and yet Mathew couldn't help but stare at the vault leader as if he could move mountains with a simple thought.

The revelations the Overseer had just revealed shocked Mathew to his core, as he was sure was the same for every other vault dweller. He had experienced the same wave of emotions as his fellow citizens; shock, curiosity, fear, anger, sadness, and even a bit of excitement. Yet at that moment he also felt one last emotion as his vision centered on the golden 186 on the back of the Overseers standard issue vault jumpsuit, a large measure of respect for the old man. It took a lot of guts for a leader to reveal that he had been withholding such a significant truth from his people for so long and even more guts to do it face to face. Thoughts of scouting the world outside of the vault had crossed Mathew's mind enough times that he seriously considered joining the separatists if they ever secured the ability to leave. If only to see what was out there. If only to see if the outside world could offer a more enjoyable life for his daughter. However, at that moment Mathew had no intentions of leaving and judging by the loud cheers of admiration and friendly pats on the back and shoulders the Overseer received from the pacified mob, neither did they. Several status reports detailing the ending protests began flooding in from the radio unit attached to Mathew's utility belt.

"Roger that." Mathew said into his radio with a smile on his face. "All units stand down."


	2. Happy Birthday

Katherine Ford; a slim sixteen year old brunette with thin cheeks covering high cheekbones, a small mouth with thin lips, and large eyes that harbored ebony pupils, exited a large classroom that served as the local high school for the upper east bloc of Vault 186. A quick glance at the somewhat large metal device referred to as a personal information processor –or Pip-Boy for short– that was strapped around her forearm revealed that it was already three-o-five in the afternoon.

"I'm late." Katherine groaned.

Professor Henderson had run his lecture forty-five minutes past the normal dismissal hour, which was a normal occurrence in his classroom on Fridays but it was Thursday, and he had then droned on for another fifteen minutes about the importance of history and education in a cruel and twisted act of retaliation after receiving more than a few sighs and groans of frustration from several students, Katherine included. Each second was torture and Katherine had felt as if her eyes had been stuck in some kind of suspended animation; glued to the ceiling from constantly rolling at each of the professor's quips about history repeating itself. He was one of the first to jump at the new source of information about the outside world from the Overseer and couldn't wait to bore Katherine and her fellow students to death with parallels between the Great War and the conflicts between the new factions that had arisen above ground. It wasn't that Katherine wasn't normally a good student because she was…sort of. And she really was interested in the outside world.

_Maybe a little interested…kind of._  She thought while waving goodbye to a few of her friends.

The professor had chosen a very inconvenient time to change up his routine. At that very moment, a birthday party was being held for a very special person in her life. Worst of all, the most important gift that would be given to the birthday boy was going to be given by her, only she wasn't there to give it. Katherine hoped that his parents wouldn't unveil the gift without her even though she wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they did.

Vault 186 harbored a massive network of grayish, stonewalled tunnels that would, to an outsider, be on par with the ancient labyrinths of Greek legends. Metal shafts, panels, and guardrails were fused and bolted into the stone along with square and circular shaped vents, which allowed the Vault's life support system to operate. Between the metal and machinery were hundreds of different colored lights attached along the walls and ceiling. Some were used for illuminating the halls and others to signify restricted areas or when needed, flash bright red, signaling an emergency. Large rectangular Plexiglas windows that allowed passersby a small glimpse into the many apartments, offices, and workshops scattered throughout the Vault lined the walls between the panels.

Another left turn and Katherine had almost reached her destination. There were three residential areas in the Vault, each harboring around seventeen-hundred citizens. The upper east bloc was notorious among most other Vault Dwellers due to its awkward design. Being the first area of the Vault its citizens excavated for expansion, most of the different rooms, laboratories, and stations, including the apartments had been constructed as needed, which meant almost everything was randomly placed throughout the bloc. Whereas every other bloc harbored a set area for apartments and work stations, the homes of the upper east were clumsily scattered around work stations and storage rooms. Several petitions for remodeling and relocations were presented to the Overseers of past generations but the requests were always voted down by the majority of the residents whose families had felt strong sentimental ties to their homes.

Katherine had more than once considered asking her father to submit another petition but always decided against it although the thought had crossed her mind again just before she finally arrived at her destination. Katherine reached out and knocked on a large gray metal door with a yellow stripe painted down the center. A few moments later the door split at the bottom with a snap hiss; the top and bottom portions of the barrier vanishing into their stone cradles.

All eyes inside the small living space centered onto the new arrival. Katherine chose not to let her embarrassment steal away her ability to walk and instead stepped into the residence with a confident stride. Realizing nothing interesting was going to happen at the moment was enough for all but one of the young preteens attending the party to ignore the new arrival.

"Katie!" The honored guest of the party; a short, twelve year old, slightly scrawny boy with a dark caramel complexion, hazel colored eyes, and black fuzzy hair said with a wide grin. His round face beamed at the sight of Katherine.

"Derek!" Katherine matched the boy's smile with one of her own and knelt down, catching him in a tight embrace after he ran over to her. "How's my little brother?" She asked. "You enjoying the party?"

"I am now." Derek Thomas replied. "Now that I can finally open my presents. What took you so long?"

"Not my fault." Katherine said defensively. "Professor Henderson wouldn't shut up about the new information from the Overseer."

Derek gave Katherine an accusatory glare after they released each other from the hug. "What, you couldn't sneak out?"

Katherine rose to her feet , giving Derek an unamused glare while resting her hands on her hips. "Really?" She said with a chastising tone.

"What?" Derek asked with faux confusion. "You know he never notices anything when he starts rambling."

"I think he would have noticed the loud hiss from the classroom door opening in the middle of his speech, Derek." Katherine countered.

"Says the big sister unwilling to risk capture in order to make it to her favorite brother's birthday party on time." Derek said with folded arms.

"Oh shut up." Katherine smiled. "Let's get your presents."

All of the children and few parents who volunteered to help supervise the event gathered behind Derek who was making no attempt to hide his growing impatience.

"Go on; take your time, sis. Not like I haven't already waited long enough." Derek jeered.

"Derek." A woman standing in front of the stack of wrapped gifts, Derek's mother, Rachel Thomas, said with an authoritative tone. "I've already told you about that attitude of yours and being nice to company."

Derek frowned at the floor at the few snickers elicited from his mother's words.

"Yeah, buddy." Steven Thomas, Derek's father added. "Don't make your mom take away all your presents." He warned with a sly smirk. "Cause you know she will."

"Not this one, I hope." Katherine said through a slightly restrained giggle of her own.

Derek's eyes lit up at the sight of the large square shaped box wrapped in sky-blue wrapping paper. His hands shot out and snatched the box from Katherine and savagely tore the container apart. While every other gift would be a genuine surprise, everyone already knew what was inside the box, including Derek. However, knowing what the gift was did nothing to dampen the boy's excitement. Inside the box were two items. The first was a long, dark blue fingerless glove with blackened knuckles. A small, almost diamond shaped metal platform with a black dial constructed into the center was fashioned on the top of the glove. The second item, which Derek greedily clutched with both hands, was a standard issue Robco Pip-Boy 3000; a powerful rectangular shaped minicomputer with a variety of functions; data collection and storage being chief among them. The metal boarders of the device were also a dark blue and surrounded a black LCD screen. Three red buttons that read stats, items, and data from left to right were positioned beneath the screen. A Geiger counter sat at the top left of the device. Below the radiation meter a dial that spun vertically was built into the device on the immediate left of the screen. One final spinning adjuster sat near the bottom left corner.

Derek pulled the glove over his left hand then slid the Pip-Boy on next and attached a small connecting cord from the bulky device to the port on the glove platform. The Pip-Boy screen lit up with a steady scroll of readouts in bright green text. After about one minute of loading, the display screen blipped and an image of a blonde man with cartoonish features dressed in a Vault 186 jumpsuit appeared on the screen encircled by various status bars that appeared to indicate the current health and condition of Derek's body and limbs. The young Vault Dweller cycled through several of the Pip-Boy's screens, experimenting with the different nobs and buttons. When he pressed the button marked "Data" his eyes lit up at the radio option on the screen. A few clicks from the bottom left nob and the room was suddenly filled with a mature, charismatic voice.

" _This is, Vault Boy Five-Thousand, and you've been listening to the pre-war eras greatest hits._ " The man said with genuine enthusiasm. " _We're halfway in to the hour that takes us back to the sounds and vocals that inspired our ancestors and kept the mood for makin' babies alive. Remember, next up we got our very own Karen Shaw ready to lay down her hit singles;_ Your Love is Like a Cave-in  _and_  These Stone Walls  _comin' up at the top of the hour but right now sit back, put your arm around that special someone, and enjoy the smooth vibes of this romantic classic from_ The Penguins.  _We've got so much music here at_ 186 Vibes  _even I haven't heard it all so remember to send in those requests after sifting through the historical database and never forget; music is medicine for the soul, ooow!"_

Seconds later, soothing slow dance music began flowing from Derek's Pip-Boy speakers.

" _Earth Angel, Earth Angel…will you be mine? My darling dear love you all the time."_

Katherine smiled while watching Derek fiddle with his new toy. A toy that would one day become an essential part of the boy's life in the Vault. She noticed as if on cue, when the music began filling the room, Derek's eyes locked onto one of his party guests; a young girl with long black hair slightly puffy cheeks with small dimples and bright blue eyes. The girl gazed back at Derek and smiled.

"Go on." Katherine nudged Derek. "This song isn't that long so you better ask her now before you're out of time."

A wide smile spread across Katherine's face as she watched Derek dance with the girl. What was her name again? Jessica. That was it. A giggle almost escaped Katherine as Derek's parents joined in on the festivities and began dancing a few feet from their son. Katherine felt a warm sensation spread through her chest as she enjoyed watching the heartwarming moment. Derek deserved it or at least she thought so. While he wasn't Katherine's biological brother, the two had bonded many years ago when she was eight and he was four. Derek, being one of the rare shut-ins and slightly anti-social residents of the Vault never really connected with the other children. It was when Katherine had verbally defended him from a few bullies that she realized he was more of an old soul than awkward like most believed. The friendship was a natural development and somewhere along the way, Katherine couldn't really remember when, they began referring to each other as brother and sister. Now she was watching her little brother grow up and she didn't want to miss any of it.

" _I'm just a fool…a fool in love…with yo–"_

A low rumbling vibrated through the room sending tingles through the feet and legs of the partygoers. Katherine held in a gasp and glanced around with confusion covering her face. The song was cut off and replaced by static for several unnerving seconds before continuing.

"What was that?" Katherine asked no one in particular.

Another rumble and this time the radio host's voice replaced the music.

" _Standby folks. We seem to be having some techni –_ " The host's voice was cut short.

The lights inside the living area of the residence gave an electrical whine as they dimmed and flickered just before a loud thunderous sound boomed from what seemed like all directions. Many children in the room began screaming while ducking down and covering their heads. Some merely whimpered and tears began streaming down the faces of others.

A quick glance at Derek's Pip-Boy revealed it was still functioning normally so Katherine knew that whatever had happened had something to do with the Vault.

Derek's parents gave each other a knowing look before turning towards the exit to their residence.

"It's the main sector reactor hub." Steven said while walking towards the exit.

"But how?" Rachel asked, following a step behind her husband. "There haven't even been any irregular spikes for the last two months."

"We won't know till we get there." Steven replied.

"Mom, Dad, what's going on?" Derek asked while running after his parents.

"Stay here, Derek." Steven ordered. "Katherine…" He began to ask but could see she already knew what his request would be.

"I'll look after him until you get back." Katherine said with a nod.

"I don't need to be looked after." Derek protested. "I need to know what's happening!"

The door to the residence opened more slowly than usual as the time between the rumbling -which was becoming more violent every minute- started getting shorter and shorter. Steven turned to the crowd of children and few adults who were all on the brink of frenzied panic.

"Everyone stay here and try to remain calm." Steven said.

"Stay here?" One of the adults, Phillip Turner, shouted while pulling one of the children behind him as he approached the exit. "I've got to make sure the rest of my family is OK!"

"I understand that, Phil, but right now it's too dangerous to travel the halls." Steven said with a hand raised towards the fearful man gesturing for him to get down.

"Why?" Carol Summers, the only other adult at the party asked in frustration.

"Because if this is the main hub of reactors like we think it is then there are going to be power surges." Rachel explained.

"So what?" Phillip challenged.

Steven began growing impatient. He didn't want to waste time explaining things to a panicked room when he needed to be at the reactor trying to solve whatever problem had arisen.

"There are hundreds of maintenance consoles and wiring covered by metal panels in every hallway. A power surge may cause some of them to short out or explode." Steven said with an authoritative tone.

As if on cue, one of the panels just outside the residence exploded from one side of the hallway to the other in a blaze of bright sparks and electricity.

"You need to stay here, stay down, and keep an eye on the kids. Got it?" Steven commanded.

With that both Steven and Rachel left their home without waiting for an answer from the other two adults. Derek started to follow after them but a raised hand from Katherine halted his advance towards the door, which was now stuck halfway open after another round of rumbling saw several sparks burst from the metal barrier.

"Bro, if there was one day you ever planned on actually listening to your parents, today's the day." Katherine said after restraining Derek with both arms.

"But…!" Derek began but was cut short from another violent rumble that threw everyone to the floor.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Steven and Rachel Thomas found themselves surrounded by a chaotic scene inside the main power generation station for the upper east bloc of Vault 186. The station was a massive collection of grated metal floors lined with guardrails. Four colossal reactors were spread evenly throughout the station. The power generators were square in shape with round corners that harbored four gigantic coiled spikes that would normally emit a low hum from stable energy coursing through them. Sitting along the center of the back wall was the main supercomputer used to control the input-output levels of the generators. Low wisps from the cooling fans inside the device and a few random beeps were usually all of the noises generated by the computer. As Steven and Rachel rushed over to the control center, the device was blaring with emergency alarms and flashing with red and yellow warning lights.

"What the hell happened?" Steven shouted at one of the panicked technicians gazing out in horror at the machine.

"I don't know!" The technician admitted. Both of his hands were clasped to the sides of his shaking head. "I can't make sense of it. One minute everything was fine and then the next we had an irregular power spike; a fucking massive one and now…" He couldn't continue.

"Now what?" Rachel demanded.

"Now…" The technician began backing away from the computer, the red emergency lights gave his terrified expression a haunting glow. "Oh no…"

Steven stepped over to the technician and glanced at what had struck fear into the man's heart. Upon seeing what his coworker had seen his eyes widened in horror as well.

"Holy…" Steven began but his fear and disbelief didn't allow him to finish his sentence.

"Steve? What is it?" Rachel asked.

Steven only gave his wife a brief glance before turning to the nearest generator and gazing up at the four coils. Bright blue electric currents surged violently through the spiraled metal, some shooting up into the steel pipes lining the ceiling causing steam to shoot out into the air. The rumbling began again with more intensity than before and with little time to think or react, Steven turned his gaze to the frenzied maintenance staff members who were darting back and forth through the station trying to power down the reactors.

"Everyone get out of here!" Steven took Rachel's hand in a tight grip. "Now!"

The rumbling knocked several members of the staff onto the ground. A few who took hold of the guardrails for support were launched into the air and covered in grotesque burns from electrical explosions that erupted throughout the station.

Steven made his way across the grated platform, running faster than he had ever run while pulling his terrified wife behind him. Both of their eyes were locked on the exit, which was about forty feet away. Steven felt hope building in his chest; the growing anticipation of his desired escape from the chaos exploding around him. Two other fleeing technicians, Mark Davidson and Janice Sanford, had made it through the exit and Steven was determined to follow their lead. Whatever was happening was no longer important. The only thing that mattered was the safety of his wife and child and he only needed to make it a few more steps before that goal would be attainable.

Unfortunately, neither Steven nor Rachel were allowed another step before one of the generators erupted into a deadly combination of fire and electricity. The explosion brought the ceiling crashing down onto the screaming maintenance staff who were already being cooked alive from the electrical fires of the blast. Steven's gaze never left the tunnel outside of the station as the fires consumed him and his wife and they were buried beneath the falling rock and metal.

At once, all of the lights, laboratories, and work stations in the upper east bloc of the Vault shut down. Many of the lights had simply exploded from the power surges leading up to the blast and the two small backup generators roughly a quarter mile away from the main station had overloaded and shut down as well. Although the maintenance crew of the backup hub had been spared a similar fate to their counterparts present in the main station, they were no less panicked than their fellow Vault Dwellers from the events of that day.

Almost an hour later the scene outside of the main station was one of bleak confusion and fear. Seven members of the security police force, including Captain Ford, were standing between a crowd of horrified Vault Dwellers and the inaccessible power station that was now blocked by fallen debris that had spilled out into the hallway from the force of the blast. Lights from several Pip-Boys were the only things illuminating the hall.

"Everyone please remain calm." Mathew said with a raised voice.

The security Captain realized the futility of his request but tried his best to follow his own advice. The crowd of civilians was on edge and nothing was going to calm them down. Sometimes chaos just simply had to run its course. Exhaustion would eventually overtake the fear and with exhaustion came a natural calm that voices of reason could penetrate.

"All of the power is gone." A man Mathew recognized as Phillip Turner screamed. "The water purification lab…the life support systems…all of it has shut down! We're going to die!"

"If the life support was off we'd have all suffocated by now." Mathew countered with a calm but stern tone.

"Then why is it so cold, huh?" Phillip shot back.

"He's right. It's freezing!" Another member of the crowd added.

"Everyone please." One of the only two surviving technicians, Mark Davidson pleaded. "Please listen to the captain. We are not going to suffocate. The Vault has three other main power stations and several small backups. Our lights and systems were all routed to the main and backup hubs of this bloc and it's going to take time to reroute things so we have our lights and heat back online. Air is still being circulated from the other blocs and all of the other water stations are still operational so we are all going to be fine."

"What do you know?" Another angered man from the crowd shouted. "It's your incompetence that caused this in the first place! All of you fucking techies!"

"Let's not start flinging baseless accusations." Mathew said while Mark only lowered his head with a defeated sigh.

"There's nothing baseless about it!" The same angered man continued. "It was Steven's fault! He was the head technician responsible for the station and look at what he let happen! The coward wasn't even there when the place blew! I heard the irresponsible prick took time off for some birthday party!"

Angered murmurs began circulating through the crowd until a young voice cut through the chatter like a gunshot.

"Hey!" Derek bellowed through burning tears. "My dad  _was_  there you idiot! He was trying to stop whatever was happening!"

"A lot of good he did." The man would not back down.

Mathew was trying his best to locate the individual who was needlessly inciting the crowd into another angered mob. On the one hand, Mathew could understand that the man was scared and angry, looking for anything or anyone to blame for the current situation. But no one needed that at the moment. What they needed was reassurance that those trusted with the safety and continued operation of the Vault were doing everything they could to ensure just that. Unfortunately the limited visibility granted from the Pip-Boy lights were making things very difficult.

"Why don't you back off?" Katherine demanded while placing her hands protectively onto Derek's shoulders. "He's just lost both of his parents for God's sake."

"Well maybe they shouldn't have been assigned to the damn power station when they were too stupid to keep the thing from exploding!" The man growled.

"You motherfucker!" Derek tore himself free from Katherine's grip and charged full force into the man, tackling him to the ground.

Mathew couldn't contain the panic in his heart when he heard his daughter's voice amongst the crowd. He began shoving his way through the already parting group of civilians at the sound of the scuffle taking place. When he finally reached the center of the crowd what he saw infuriated him beyond words.

While the initial surprise of his attack had allowed Derek to bring the much older, taller, and stronger man to the ground, the man had quickly recovered and was now holding the boy down with one hand around his throat.

"I'm gonna give you the beating your father deserves!" The man barked.

"Get off of him!" Katherine shrieked while grabbing the man from behind.

Katherine's plan was to pull the man off and run but she instead received a backhanded punch to her left cheek and stumbled with a yelp of pain. A few members of the crowd had already begun advancing on the situation. Even those who misguidedly agreed with the man, mostly due to their own fear and confusion, were unwilling to let him harm an innocent minor.

None of them made it to the man before Mathew had leapt towards him and pinned him to the ground, repeatedly slamming his fist into the man's face.

"You fucking bastard!" Mathew roared.

It took two of his fellow officers to pull Mathew off of the man and he managed one final kick to the agitator's hip before he was dragged out of reach. But that didn't stop him from screaming.

"If you ever touch my daughter again I'll kill you!" Mathew threatened. "You hear me you piece of shit? I'll fucking kill you!"

"Boss, get a hold of yourself." Dennis Hsu said while struggling to hold back his superior officer.

One full minute passed before Mathew finally stopped struggling. Deep hastened breaths escaped him as he glared down at the groaning form of the man who had struck his daughter and then the realization hit him. His eyes took in the sight of Katherine gazing up at him with shock spread across her face.

Being a part of a small security force assigned to ensure the safety of a large population usually meant that one would have to be violent at some point in order to keep the peace but Mathew had never beaten anyone as badly as he had beaten that man. He hadn't lost complete control. He wasn't going to kill the man but he hadn't been ready to stop when his officers had restrained him. He wanted the man to suffer and that realization combined with the look on his daughter's face sent a chill down his spine.

"Okay…I'm OK. Let me go." Mathew ordered and was relieved when his men complied. "All right…everyone…"

The plan was to continue where he had left off before his violent outburst but another outburst prevented him from doing so.

Derek, who had still been lying on the floor, had completely broken down into tears. He sat up and buried his face in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably. Katherine rushed over to the boy and wrapped him in a comforting embrace, rubbing the back of his head with her hand.

"It's OK." Katherine soothed. "It's going to be OK."

"Everyone, please…just…return to your homes." Mathew pleaded with the crowd. "There's nothing anyone can do here."

"I want my mama." Derek said weakly through his sobs.

"I know…" Katherine had no idea what to say. "I know..."

Katherine sat with Derek, never letting go of him as he cried with his face buried in her chest hidden from the world.


End file.
